Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

  Gone Girl
  Author: Gillian Flynn
  Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
  Publication date: 24th May 2012.
  My rating: 5 stars

  

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

Gone girl is one of the most disturbing books I’ve ever read, disturbing as it left me completely chilled to the core with goose bumps up my arms and lying awake all night afterwards thinking what the heck did I just read. Despite being left with feeling of uneasiness, I really enjoyed this disturbing book. I know it’s a paradox which doesn’t make sense, but I don’t think I’d ever felt this raw after finishing a book, I feel like I’ve been through a traumatising experience these last few days. I went into Gone girl with the gist that it was about a married couple, Nick and Amy who have to deal with the heartache of Amy going missing, with no other leads the police start accusing Nick. Let me tell you this doesn’t even scratch the surface; this book is full of angst, deceit, manipulation, revenge, love and about family. It’s oozing with so much that I felt like a shook up rag doll with my nerves in disarray.

Nick and Amy have been married for five years, on their five year wedding anniversary Amy goes missing, the police start to see it as a murder investigation as there’s been no sight of Amy and the circumstances in which the house was left. Nick the poor guy is left shell shocked he doesn’t understand how it could have happened, and then all of a sudden the police start digging around closer to home, was their marriage as perfect as everyone thought it to be?

Neither Nick nor Amy were perfect, but having your wife gone missing, your house ransacked you’re bound to assume the worst. But Nick never believed the police would think it was him. Nick’s capable of not contributing enough to their marriage, shutting Amy out, but a killer really? The dual pov’s from Amy and Nick were interesting, as with each pov you would get closer to that person. I from the beginning chose my side, but then with all these little niggles from the alternative pov, the way the character I was rooting for started behaving, actually made me want to step back and think things through. Gillian Flynn had a knack of doing this, she would tease and toy with your feelings so much that I didn’t know what to believe, and then when I thought I knew what was going on I’d get walloped by something unexpected. How did she ever think of a story woven with such dark ploy and secrets, this woman is a genius!

If I was to recommend a single book that you should pick up this year it is Gone Girl. It was full of passion, deception and heart stopping moments. It was a truly unforgettable reading experience. (If you do decide to pick it up please pick it up soon as I need to discuss this epic book with someone right away.)